Thursday, March 8, 2012

The biggest musical act in the world (literally) is Japan's AKB48, an all-female supergroup consisting of 57 members who are divided into four teams. Created with the purpose of being "idols you can meet", the group performs daily shows at their own theater, and elections are held where fans can to vote on which members will participate in the recording of the group's next single.

Although you may have never heard AKB48, they are one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, generating over $200 million in record sales in Japan last year alone. In a country known for it's fierce devotion to j-pop (Japanese pop) and innovative cat culture, the logical next step was the creation of an all-feline pop group - whose members don't sing, as much as hawk cute cat goodies to the kawaii-hungry masses.

Sticker Sheets!

Crunchyroll reports that NKB48 (full name: NeKoBu48, neko being Japanese for “cat”) was created by online mail-order cat shop felissimo. Elections were held last fall to crown the most popular member, with the winning spot going to an Osaka-based kitty named April, whose bio hilariously notes: “She's a baby face, but can look after the house.” (I swear one day I will learn Japanese so I can translate all of these cat websites by myself).

Out of the 48 cat line-up (seen here), the top ten most popular pussycats were given the honor of having their furry mugs emblazoned on profile cards, adorable stickers, and micro-fiber hand towels.

Hand towels!

As Crunchyroll notes, the only thing the mega-group is lacking is any actual singing ability - but that's never stopped anyone in America from earning a buck, so I don't see why the same formula can't be just as successful in Japan. Besides, I'm pretty sure I'd rather see these cuties take the stage, than have to endure the snoozefest that was last night's "American Idol."